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Pope to meet with Muslim nations' envoys

September 23, 2006|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has invited Muslim envoys to meet with him at his summer residence Monday for what the Holy See says is urgently needed dialogue following the crisis ignited by his remarks on Islam and violence.

Turkey and Iran said their representatives would attend.

The pope's attempt to talk through the controversy comes as Christian-Muslim tensions rose in Indonesia over the executions of three Roman Catholic militants. Benedict had appealed to the mostly Muslim nation to spare the men.

Thousands of Muslims staged marches Friday against the pope in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and Sudan's capital.